News
Mediation helping manage Laos’ legal case backlog problem
Law courts in many Asian countries are overburdened. A perfect storm of factors including rapid economic growth, urbanisation, industrialisation and the withering away of traditional governance systems has caused the number of criminal and civil cases to soar. Courts are often ill-equipped to cope with ...
Cambodia accused of 'killing off democracy' after opposition party dissolved by Supreme Court
Cambodia has been accused of ‘killing off democracy’ after the country’s supreme court dissolved the opposition party and outlawed over 100 politicians ahead of a general election next year. Thursday’s ruling to disband the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in a Southeast Asian country visited by about 159,000 ...
Nicola Smith & Louise Burke
Experts push for inquisitorial system of justice
Experts at a seminar on constitutional procedure in the organic law related to the Constitutional Court expressed the need to emphasise on the inquisitorial system over the adversarial legal system as well as allow the public to bring constitutional dispute cases to the Court. The ...
Party Law draws EU eyes
A European parliamentarian has submitted a “priority question” to Europe’s high representative for foreign affairs, Frederica Mogherini, urging strong action against Cambodia in response to recent threats by Prime Minister Hun Sen to dissolve opposition parties. Legislation proposed on Monday by the ruling Cambodian People’s ...
Political parties law moves ahead
Ruling party members on the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee approved several proposed amendments to the law on political parties on February 13 despite strong requests for a delay from the opposition. The bill will now be reviewed and studied by the commission of legislation and ...
Govt, Japan to further develop human resources in legal sector
To realise the government’s master plan of building the country into a state governed by the rule of law, Laos will continue to work with Japan to enhance their joint efforts to develop institutional and individual capacity in the legal sector. This was the key ...
Justice system failing child victims: experts
Cambodia’s justice system often fails to support children who are victims of and witnesses to crime, many of whom are so terrified to appear in court that they’re unable to give testimony, children’s rights experts said on August 16. “When children are abused, they often respond ...
